Monday, February 9, 2004
Matsushita Electric Industrial announced that it will start selling an electronic book (e-book) called "Sigma Book" on Feb 20 for 37,900 yen.
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| 'Sigma Book' spreaded (photo: Matsushita) | It employs an LCD that allows the display to keep showing material that is on the screen even when it is turned of. It is capable of continually working with two AA batteries for three months. It uses an SD memory card.
It will be available at bookstores such as Kinokuniya Co, Ltd; Maruzen Co, Ltd; and Matsushita Electric's direct marketing Web site called "Pana Sense."
Sigma Book is an electronic book that was unveiled in April 2003. It comes with "SD-ePublish," a content protection function designed for SD memory cards. Matsushita Electric improved the software ahead of merchandising. It has two 7.2-in, 1,024 x 768 (XGA)-pixel memory LCD panels located side by side, and can be folded as if it were a real book. The display has 16 degrees of grayscale. The device measures 292mm x 205mm x 12.7mm when it is opened, and 154.5mm x 205mm x 25.4mm when it is folded. It weighs 520g without batteries.
Contents that can be read using this device must comply with Matsushita Electric's own original format Sigma-book format or EBI format. They are available at the "Sigma Book" Web site run by Matsushita Electric and "10DaysBook" run by eBOOK Initiative Japan Co, Ltd. At the time of the launch, available contents will be 5,000 items ranging from comics, novels and how-to readings. Matsushita will make available reader applications complying with other e-book formats.
As bundled content, the first volume of "Cyborg 009" (an old Japanese comic) is included. The company plans to sell the device in limited production of 1,000 units by the end of March. After that, it will expand production in proportion to increasing contents to deliver. It plans to sell 100,000 units by the end of fiscal 2005.
By: DocMemory
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